Police: Handling of Juveniles

In light of the enormous amount of discretion that police have with juveniles, one should be concerned with how these decisions are made as they are important decisions, which may formally classify juveniles (correctly or incorrectly) as delinquents and introduce them to the juvenile justice system. The sociological approach to understanding the use of police discretion with juveniles only explains so much. Researchers must look to other factors and take different approaches to explaining behavior with juveniles (as they have with adults, that is, psychological and organizational approaches). Future research on policing juveniles should try and increase our knowledge of the kinds of troubles in which juveniles are involved. Further, research should be directed at examining the effect of police outcomes on future juvenile delinquency. Do formal actions by the police have positive or negative effects on future misconduct? Little is still known about police juvenile interactions, and less is known about what effect police decisions have on future delinquency. Further research in these areas might improve the fairness and the effectiveness of the police role in juvenile justice.